Pushing Me Away
by Priestess Aishisu
Summary: “Numbuh Five still thinks that you makin’ a mistake here,” “Get. Out.” “You’ve already pushed Numbuh Three away, and now you’re pushing me away. Soon you’ll have no one left.” 45 13 34 15 DISCONTINUED
1. Get Out

Priestess Aishisu: I deleted my 4/5 2/3 fanfiction 'It's Not Over Yet' because it only got two reviews. However, I recently realized 4/5 is a great pairing. So I'm trying a 4/5 1/3. 1/3 seems pretty popular, and 3/2 certainly isn't popular. Also, I've only read two 4/5 fanfictions. If you know any, please send me the url and I would be eternally grateful. And if you were wondering, I _did_ edit the story. It isn't your imagination.

«§ψ§»

"Numbuh Five still thinks that you makin' a mistake here," Abigail Lincoln informed him, her hazel eyes earnest and worried under the brim of her red cap. "What about Lizzie?

Nigel blinked at her in bewilderment behind his sunglasses, befuddled both by her unusual words and her desperate tone. "And since when did you care about Lizzie? Weren't you the one who kept telling me to break up with her?"

"W**–**Well, yeah, but…" She trailed off, and gazed at him pleadingly. What could she say? The truth? But that wouldn't do her any good now. She decided to go with the next best alternative—the problem she was most concerned about, not including the real one…

"What about Numbuh Four?"

Nigel sighed. "I know, I know, he has a massive crush on her. But…what can I do? I love her, she loves me, can't Numbuh Four find some other girl?" He turned to leave, but without thinking Abigail sprinted forward and caught him by the sleeve. He turned back to her and blinked, somewhere between confused and impatient. She tried to think.

"Aren't you a bit…**young** to fall in love for real? Numbuh Five means, can't _you_ find some other girl?"

"Like who, Eighty-Six?" He joked, but became serious again when he saw her expression. "Come on, Numbuh Five. You and I both know that there isn't any girl as close to me as Numbuh Three**—**well, besides you, but I certainly don't love _you." _

Abigail nodded, barely managing to hold back uninvited tears, and waited until he had left to burst into tears and throw herself on her couch. When she was finally able to speak coherently, she whispered one sentence into her pillow: "But Numbuh Five loves _you,_ Numbuh One."

There, she had said it. The secret she had been harboring in her heart for almost two years, the secret she hadn't been able to bring herself to admit to admit to Nigel.

And now she would never get the chance.

«§ψ§»

"Get. Out."

The words were low and harsh. The boy who spoke it had his head bowed in rage, his long blonde bangs hiding the tears in his sharp jade eyes. He was trembling with fury, fists clenched in his lap. He would rather look at his fists than at the girl in front of him.

"Come on, Wally," Kuki Sanban protested. "I said I was sorry. What am I supposed to do? I love him, and you never told me how you felt. If you had, maybe I would have**—**"

**"Shut up!"** Wally—a.k.a Wallabee Beadles—roared, finally snapping up his head to glare at her. "And don't call me that! Just get out of my sight**—**ah never wunnu see you again!"

Kuki's aquamarine blue eyes filled with tears. He had loved her eyes, once. But love only hurt him. He had opened his heart for the first time in his entire life and it had been crushed—crushed into a hundred pieces, a thousand pieces.

A million.

Then Kuki's eyes burned wrathfully. "Fine," she said dismissively, her voice dripping with pure fury as she flipped back her hair in an obstinate gesture. "Whatever. Be a big fat meanie-head." He snorted at her childish words, but she didn't seem to hear.

"It doesn't matter," she continued, her face and voice colder than he had ever seen or heard—from her or anyone. "I don't need to have a jerk like you for a friend anyway."

Once the words would have filled him with pain, but he was already overflowing with it. Wally clenched his teeth and watched her leave without reacting, then—once he was sure she was gone—slammed his fist onto the table next to him.

The wood splintered into bits like his heart, slashing through his skin. He didn't care. Wally clenched his fist harder as it bled, dripping onto his jeans. The slivers lodged deeper into his skin, but his heart hurt more than his hand.

He continued glaring at the door. Between gritted teeth, Wally growled out the one word which seemed to convey everything he was feeling, split into three syllables**— **

"God. Damn. It."

«§ψ§»

"Numbuh Five **knew** she'd find you up to somethin' like this!" shouted Abigail, throwing open Wally's door to find him packing. She saw his bleeding hand and gasped, dashing forward and beginning to pluck out fragments of wood.

He jerked his hand away. "Leave me alone," he muttered without looking at her, not wanting to see her eyes. He kept his own eyes on his suitcases, not letting her see the tears filling said eyes. (I just said 'eyes' three times in a sentence and one word before it. I need a bigger vocabulary—wait, is that possible?) But that didn't hide the tears on his cheeks. "Ah'm getting' outtu here."

Abigail's hazel eyes narrowed with a mixture of frustration and annoyance. Swiftly, she drew back her leg and kicked his suitcase, scattering his clothes everywhere. "Hey!" Wally yelled, starting to pick them up—but Abigail had other ideas. Yanking him to his feet, she spun him around so he was facing her and pushed him by his shoulders against the wall.

"Why you…" growled Wally. He squirmed and thrashed angrily, but her viselike grip on his shoulders only tightened.

Even Abigail—who had mocked his intelligence since they were nine—would admit that he was a good fighter, but she had always been taller than him and he only had one fist available. Besides, he didn't really want to punch her.

"You are **not** quitting!" she snapped, still not releasing him. "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Oh shut up!" he spat, still fighting like the wild animal she probably would be have been glad to inform him that he was acting like at the moment. "What do you know?!"

"What Numbuh Five _knows_ is that you're my _friend_ and that you're being even more of an idiot than usual, seeing as how you're about to make the worst mistake of your life!" she retorted, but her face seemed to soften. Releasing him, she asked with a gentleness he was unaccustomed to—even from the Abigail, the most caring motherly girl he had ever met—"You wunnu talk about it?"

Suddenly, without any warning at all other than the strange trembling sensation inside his heart, Wally found himself spilling everything out. "Ah've loved her since ah was eight!" he choked out. Tears coursed freely down his cheeks as he stared at Abigail, his eyes begging her to understand. "After four years, ah finally tell her how ah feel and she started dating Numbuh One a few **hours** ago! What would you do?"

"I**—**" she began, but he shook his head—and perhaps she was glad of that, for she had no idea what she would have said had he not interrupted.

"Don't answer that. Ah know ah'm stupid. Ah know yah wouldn't be as bitter and stubborn as I am! But ah'm not like you, all right?!" He repressed a shuddery sob, but suddenly rage filled him—not that this was something he wasn't used to.

"Why am ah even telling you this?" he asked, flinging his head back and glaring at her through his tears. "You've never been in love, even if yah did date Numbuh Two for a few months! You can't possibly understand how ah feel!"

"Oh, can't I?" Abigail challenged, but her eyes were filled with hurt. "Listen, Numbuh Four. Ah understand if you're mad at Numbuh Three. You might even be upset with Numbuh One. But…Are you really going to give it all up? Just turn your back on us? Are you going to leave Numbuh Two, leave the team, leave _me?" _

"Just get out, all right?" Wally hissed. His voice quavered, but he didn't let anymore tears fall. "Leave me alone."

Abigail stepped back, the hurt in her eyes turning into anguish. Her voice was low, as if she were trying not to cry as she told him, "You've already pushed Numbuh Three away, and now you're pushing me away. Soon you'll have no one left."

"Whatever," he grumbled, still not meeting her eyes. She turned and left.

Wally sneered and went back to picking up his things, but to his own surprise he put his clothes back in the closet. _I don't care,_ he told himself. _I don't care if I'm pushing her away. I don't need her, I don't need anybody! _

But if he really cared as little as he tried to convince himself, then why couldn't he forget the hurt in her eyes?


	2. Consequences

Priestess Aishisu: Four reviews. Could have been worse.

**Jay Man: Well I'm not sure if I like the speech patterns that you've put in but they might grow on me. This story has a much better chance in my opinion. The pairings make more sense so it might be easier to establish the plot. Good luck on this. Don't neglect your other stories please. **

_Priestess Aishisu: Neglect my other_…_::Stares:: All but of my Kids Next Door stories are either complete or on hiatus! How can I neglect them? And you don't read my fanfiction on the other sites_…_I think_…

**#7: what's this doing in the CTCD section? **

_Priestess Aishisu: Sorry_…_See, Courage: The Cowardly Dog is right underneath Codename: Kids Next Door and I accidentally clicked it instead. I've already changed it, anyway. _

**Kimi 13: It is most transcendent. But it is also very pensive. Please may you continue with the story!  
1&3 FOREVUR! **

_Priestess Aishisu: ::Blinks:: Huh? What's so transcendent about it? I guess you could consider it pensive, though not compared to some of my other works. Anyway, thanks! _

**Possessed Angel: this is really good. please update soon. **

_Priestess Aishisu: Thanks. And this seems pretty soon to me. _

This chapter is pretty much just to give you a clear picture of how what occurred in Chapter One is affecting the team in general. Each member has a few paragraphs about how they're feeling at this point, and then a little clip-thing. It's in numerical order rather than sequential.

«§ψ§»

Nigel thought he would go mad. This was so…so frustrating. He and Kuki were officially going out after over a year of shameless flirting and months of subtler flirting before that, and it was easily the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him. On the other hand, it seemed as if the team would fall apart.

At least four times the mission was screwed up because Kuki and Wally weren't speaking and seemed to be trying to avoid each other at all costs. Twice one of them had nearly died. It was excruciating.

One of those times Wally had nearly ended up in the hospital for over a week, because Kuki had left him alone to fight a giant…something or another. Abigail had completely blown up over that—Nigel had never seen her so angry. Kuki was crying for hours after Abigail yelled at her.

He knew Wally would be mad, but he expected no more than a little sulking and/or shouting. But he would never have thought this would happen! This glaring, avoiding, screaming…

To make matters worse, Kuki seemed just as mad, if not more. He hadn't realized dating a friend's crush would have such unbearable consequences, or he would have taken Abigail's advice.

«§ψ§»

"That Numbuh Four is such a jerk," Kuki complained for the twentieth or so time, even as she cuddled the pink heart-eyed teddy bear Nigel had won for her at the carnival. (After nineteen failed tries)

"He's just upset," Nigel replied, feeling a pit in his stomach. This wasn't the conversation he wanted. "Give him time. Now, can we _please_ talk about something else?"

Kuki seemed to consider this. She tilted her head, making the tiny gems in the butterfly earrings he had bought last year for her birthday glitter in the sun. Then a wide, dazzling grin spread over her lips and her lovely eyes seemed to blaze with delight. "You're right!" she announced. "I have much more important things to think about than that big meanie! Come on, let's go on the Ferris Wheel!"

He was so glad she had dropped the issue, at least temporarily, that he let her drag him to the excruciatingly long line without even mentioning that he hated Ferris Wheels.

«§ψ§»

Contrary to popular (at least from what I can tell) belief, Hoagie P. Gilligan Jr. is not dumb. Not really. So, naturally, he knew something was going on. Even the world's biggest idiot would have realized it, and just because he's big (well, he is!) didn't mean he's an idiot.

Let's tick it off, shall we?

Nigel and Kuki were either going out or…Yeah, that was the only explanation. The cuddles, the looks, the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours they spent talking…Which might explain the next two.

Kuki and Wally were ignoring each other, except for venomous glares and soft growls whenever they brushed past each other. He was forever afraid one of them might blow up and kill the other. He had never seen them so upset, not even when a guy called Wally a 'shrimp.'

Wally was in an awful mood. Whenever Hoagie tried speaking to him, he would snap in reply. Oh, and his hand was wrapped in bandages. But the most confusing was the last thing:

Wally and Abigail seemed to be avoiding each other. It was nothing like with Wally and Kuki, but they weren't speaking much. When they did, it was a simple thing that didn't merit more than one word as a reply, if any words were needed at all, ("pass the blah-blah-blah" and "you're late for lunch" and stuff like that) and they were speaking in unusually quiet voices, never making eye contact. And when one looked at the other their expression was sad.

This was more disturbing than the other three put together. It sometimes looked like they had a bad relationship—Wally always being troublesome, Abigail always mocking his intelligence (though not so much as she mocked Hoagie's sense of humor.)

But, if you asked anyone who knew them, or if you just looked for more than three minutes, you could tell they were probably closer than anyone else in the team. They never seemed to stay mad at each other for more than five minutes, though Hoagie had lost track of the amount of times Abigail had grabbed the shorter operative by the front of his shirt and thrown him (though he managed to balance himself a third of the time) within a month of knowing them. In spite of frequent verbal sparring, they usually had remarkable patience with one another, and seemed to watch out for each other as much as Wally watched out for Kuki. Never in four years—and Hoagie was certain they had known each other longer than that, because they lived very close to each other and had already seemed friends when they joined the team—had they ever had a lasting fight or seemed uncomfortable around each other.

Now they did.

Even during missions, the change was fairly evident: Nigel rescuing Kuki in a point where Wally usually would, Kuki and Wally keeping as far away from each other as possible even when the five of them were stuck in a closet that would momentarily be on fire.

This weirdnesses had been going on for nearly a month by now, and he still had no idea what in the universe was happening.

«§ψ§»

"Numbuh Two," said Wally, seeming to draw out his words. He was glaring pointedly at Numbuh Three. "Could you _please_ pass the ketchup?"

Hoagie blinked. "Umm…Numbuh Three's closer, why doesn't she—"

**"Pass the stinkin' ketchup!" **Wally yelled.

"All right, all right," he muttered, unnerved, leaning past Kuki to give him the ketchup. Wally dumped it furiously on his plate, creating a thick ruby ocean. Nigel and Hoagie stared at him. Abigail kept her eyes on her food, though she would usually have been the one to stop him by now. Kuki continued glaring. "Umm…Are you feeling all right, Numbuh Four?"

"Nah, I'm _fine!"_ he hissed, still pumping out ketchup as if he were either strangling something. He was still glaring at Kuki, so it can be assumed that he was substituting the bottle for her neck. "Just _peachy!"_

"Numbuh Four," said Abigail in a low voice—uncharacteristically so, for all that she was the quiet one—still not raising her eyes to look at Wally. "You're getting ketchup on your jeans."

"Huh?" He glanced down at his jeans, and it was true. Ketchup was smeared all over the blue denim. "Oops." He took a napkin and tried to wipe it off. Kuki snickered meanly, but Wally didn't seem to notice. He glanced at Abigail. Her head was still bent over, and she wasn't looking at him.

Hoagie squinted, trying to get a better view of her face. It was somewhere between sad and thoughtful, and her eyes were shining.

«§ψ§»

Anger. Rage. Fury. Wrath. Hatred. Resentment. Bitterness. Malice. Loathing. Abhorrence. Ire. Vehemence. Hostility. Enmity. Acrimony. Indignation. Umbrage. (My vocabulary is too big…I didn't even need a thesaurus to make this.) Only a few words to describe the emotions Kuki Sanban was feeling.

At the core of it all, she was hurt and distressed. But at this point, I don't think even she knew that.

How **dare** he? How dare he be mad at her just because she liked another? It wasn't as if he owned her! Anyway, how was she to have realized that he had felt that way about her?

It was not as if it were her fault that she didn't feel the same way. For it was not him but Nigel that she was madly in love with, Nigel she was happy with, Nigel who had always had her heart in his hands and always would. And Wally would just have to deal with it.

…Right?

«§ψ§»

Kuki skipped happily into the room, beaming. She had just been on a wonderful date with Nigel, and if felt as if she had no worries in the world. It didn't last, though.

Her eyes narrowed when she noticed Wally leaning against a doorway, arms crossed. His emerald eyes blazed menacingly, and his animosity was palpable.

Kuki lifted her chin stubbornly and placed a flirtatious hand on her hip, her eyes dangerous. Just to prove she wasn't going to let him bring her down, she flashed a beautiful smile—but the threat in it was clear.

She wasn't afraid of **him.**

«§ψ§»

Wally couldn't bear it.

The only person he had ever loved hated him and it was his fault, one of his best friends was dating her, and the only person who had tried to help he had chased away.

He had always been a brash, impulsive fighter. He had always been thoughtless. But he had never gotten himself into such a terrible mess, not even when he was being attacked by a giant Rainbow Monkey.

Which, come to think of it, also wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Kuki.

And the Kuki issue he could deal with, no matter how much it hurt. He just did what he usually did when he was hurt**—**be a bitter, fuming jerk. **She** was certainly making it easy enough.

It was the Abigail thing he really couldn't stand. He had tried the anger thing, and it hadn't helped. It also didn't help that she wouldn't look him in the eye, or that her voice and face was so pensive and sad when she spoke to or even glanced at him.

It didn't help, it hurt.

«§ψ§»

"Numbuh Five, watch out!" shrieked Wally, dashing forward and using his S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R to pummel one of Father's minions who had been sneaking up on her. They were ­in a room in the Delightful Children's mansion, surrounded by robots and warriors, and the feud that had been going on between him and Kuki **really **wasn't helping the situation.

Abigail blinked. Why hadn't she noticed that? She supposed she had been too caught up in thinking about everything that was going on (and fighting the mechanical snake.) "Thanks Numbuh Four," she said softly, still not meeting his eyes**—**a fact that didn't get past the reckless operative.

Inwardly, he sighed sadly. _I guess she's still mad at me_…_not that I can blame her_…

Outwardly, he forced himself to smile. "No problem," he replied with obviously faked brightness. He turned and ran back to the battle, running quicker than necessary**—**well, actually, it **was** necessary if he didn't want her to see the uninvited tears falling from his eyes.

«§ψ§»

Abigail wasn't sure what to do. She had promised herself she would forget she had ever had feelings about Nigel, and seemed to be at least half-succeeding. Wally and Kuki, however, seemed to be in an all-out war and she felt caught in the middle. She was sure Nigel did too—mostly because he had said so himself.

She no longer knew how she felt. Her feelings were in a turmoil: She felt sorry for everyone, angry at everyone, guilty about everyone, and a few other feelings in between.

She felt sorry for Nigel, being caught in the middle, angry because she felt it was his fault, and guilty because she was so angry she had actually yelled at him.

She felt sorry for Hoagie, who obviously knew something was going on but had no idea what it was, angry because he should have figured it out by now, and guilty both because she had no right to be angry and because she could have told him but didn't.

She felt sorry for Kuki because it wasn't _her_ fault Wally was mad, angry because she was so mad at Wally, and guilty because Kuki had every right to be mad but she was still angry.

She felt sorry for Wally for obvious reasons, angry because he was being a jerk, guilty because she knew he must be sorry about how he had acted she was still mad, and worried because he had given himself those injuries on his hand and might have injured himself in other places too—when his shirt got ripped in one battle, she noticed scars on his arm too deliberate-looking to have been given to him by someone else.

She didn't even know how she felt about herself! The best thing to do was do her best to avoid speaking to…well, just about everyone. Even Wally.

Especially Wally.

«§ψ§»

"You were right."

Abigail blinked and lifted her head to see Nigel. "Huh?"

"You were right," he repeated. "Things seem to be getting out of hand. Strike that, things **are** out of hand. You know, I really thought Wally would be able to get over it."

Abigail stared at him, and felt heat rushing to her face as a hundred images of Wally suddenly filled her mind. She remembered the rage and pain in Wally's eyes, his harsh words, his hurt words, the blood streaming from his hand…Suddenly irrepressible fury filled her, and she seemed to stand six feet tall.

**"Get over it?"** she repeated, rage weighing down every word. Her voice rose to a shout. **"Get over it?!** He's loved Numbuh Three for **years!** Do you realize that he **finally** admitted it less than an hour after you two got together? Numbuh Five **told** you this would happen! She told you twice!"

Then she whirled around and stormed away.


	3. I'm Sorry

Priestess Aishisu: Huh. I'm impressed, I must say. Ten reviews is quite a bit more than I expected to get. And they were mostly complimentary, which is nice. Don't you agree?

**J (silence) Quill: Wait...I thought Number Four said he loved Three for 'four years', not 'two'. Ah well. I like how you write Number Two as an unbiased character, and he gives the reader an objective view of what's going on. Plus, his opinions can compare with the other characters which really helps.  
  
First off, I think that you shouldn't be coveting your review count. I would much rather have a few well-written (and hopefully nice) reviews, rather than an onslaught of "OMG this is da best story in da wurld u better update cuz I lurve it! XDXDXD!!" They're nice to get, but they don't help much in the long run.  
  
But the funny thing about this is that you have an amazing story, which is why I'm confused. If your story is so good, you shouldn't worry about how many reviews you get. I can understand that it's nice to have feedback to see if people are reading your work and whether or not they enjoy it, but don't write for the reviews--write for yourself. Besides, this story kicks butt, so don't worry about it.**

_Priestess Aishisu: I know, I know, my bad. I never really decided what they're age would be. Let's just say they're between ten and twelve. (When in doubt, say eleven) And I agree with everything you said about the reviews. It's always nice to get credit, but I do prefer a well_-_written compliment to a 'this rox! Update now!'_

**Possesed Angel: this is really great. please update. i can't wait.**

_Priestess Aishisu: And this would definitely fall under the category of a 'This rox! Update now!' which I had just mentioned. But thanks anyway. ::Smiles::_

**Numbuh M: Omgosh. It's so sad ;; Please make things happy again. I like it when things are happy But it's awesome. Keep on going! (You made tears come to my eyes..)**

_Priestess Aishisu: If everything were happy all the time, my fanfictions wouldn't be worth reading! No plot! I like writing tear_-_jerkers! They're what I'm famous for (and my suspense, and plot, and description, and characterization_…_and no, I'm not bragging. That's just what the majority of my reviewers praise me for. I'm also famous on Teen Titans fanfiction for being the first to write a Raven/Cyborg_…

**J.Dax: Pretty cool, can't wait for more.**

_Priestess Aishisu: Thank you._

**Bit Star: The only complaint I have is that it's a little too angsty. Other than that it's a great story so far.  
1/3 and 4/5 forever! **

_Priestess Aishisu: See my reply to _**Numbuh M**

**Odd'sGirl: Love your story! Although, I am more of a 3/4 fan, I really like your writing up to a point that I don't mind what the pairings are. Keep up the good work. I really hope there will be a happy ending!**

_Priestess Aishisu: I like 3/4, too. But really there are few pairings I **don't** like._

**Deadly Tears: Hey, this is a great story you have here!  
  
Finally I found a story with a 4/5 pairing in it. Sorry to those who are big fans of 3/4 but it's not really my fav. pairing and there's too many fics that center around those two.  
  
(Shrugs) But anyway, I love this story so far and hopefully you'll update soon! **

_Priestess Aishisu: ::Bows:: Glad to be of service! You know, there would be more 4/5 fanfictions if you tried writing some. I'm just hoping (I want more 4/5, dammit!). No insult meant._

**Jay Man: First let me ofer an apology for making the suggestion that you might neglect your other stories. This story is great although I am worried about the team. Good work.**

_Priestess Aishisu: Yes, it does make you worry, doesn't it? Not to worry, all will be righted in the next chapter. (Well, not exactly, but_…_::Shrugs::)_

**Mark: Okey. Sorry I flamed you in the first chapter. iguess it's not bad... just depressing. Please write more. In the meen time, on to the next story!  
  
Mark**

_Priestess Aishisu: Thank you._

**darkloner: The story is great. I wanted to see a Nigel-kuki relationship. I want to know how Wally will get over it and how he will fall for number 5. Please continue with the story.**

_Priestess Aishisu: You'll see a little of that in the next chapter._

Priestess Aishisu: Now, I recently received a **very** rude flame which I am not even going to dignify with a proper reply. It went a little something like this:

**Cyndi: This whole 'playing musical chairs' with KND coupling is WRONG! If you read message boards, polls, and KND fansites, the vast majority support 3/4, 2/5, or 1/5. 1/3 is just too damn boring and arbitrary...as for 4/5...DON'T make me laugh my ss off!**

I would just like to say: the vast majority is a lot, but not everyone. I may not like 1/3 much, but I do like 4/5. and you know what? You're not the only one in the world. I'm entitled to like what I like, and it's a fanfiction so I can use any pairing I want! So go to hell and stay. It's where you belong.

* * *

Wally moaned and turned over, looking at his alarm clock. 11:38, it read in glowing scarlet lines. "That **can't** be right," he muttered angrily. "It was 11:38 _last_ time ah checked."

Why was he having so much trouble sleeping at night? Actually, he knew why. He kept hearing Abigail's words, and seeing those pain-filled hazel eyes. _You've already pushed Numbuh Three away, and now you're pushing me away. Soon you'll have no one left._ He told himself he didn't care, but he obviously had to care at least a little if it was keeping him awake at night.

He turned over again, trying to get comfortable. Unbidden, unexpected tears came into his eyes and fell onto his pillow. "Ah'm sorry," he whispered, voice choked with tears. "Ah'm sorry."

Then his eyes widened, and he sat up in bed. What if…?

It would be silly to think he could solve it all by apologizing, and he certainly didn't think he could, but he had to apologize if he didn't want to lose his mind with guilt.

And if he didn't want to lose one of the most wonderful friends he had ever had.

* * *

Abigail sat up in bed, blinking. Her thick dark hair fell unbraided past her waist, wavy from being in her trademark braid so often. The door was swinging slightly. "Whose there?" she called. No reply.

She heard another sound and kicked off the sheets. She had on a knee-length blue tee shirt with a pattern of gold-and-silver birds. "Hi, Numbuh Four."

Wally, who had hidden under the couch when he noticed her move, got up. She heard him chuck something under the ground. "H–How did you—" he stuttered. "Umm…I gotta go…"

She moved so fast his eyes couldn't follow. The next thing he knew, she had flung him onto the bed and pinned him there. (Not for **that,** you perverts!) "Oh, come on! Not this again!"

"Yes, this again," she snapped. "And if you're here to insult me or tell me everything only to claim ah 'wouldn't understand' and put up all those stupid **walls **you seem to have formed around yourself, Numbuh Five is going to throw you out that window before you even realized you said anything!"

In spite of himself, Wally felt himself recoil fearfully. He had known Abigail for years and years, and rarely had she seen her this angry. And it was all the worse because he was aware that he would certainly deserve being thrown out a window, but the worst part was that he could still see that goddamned hurt in her eyes that had made him come to apologize in the first place.

"Ah," he stammered, trying to think as he stared at her. She looked different without her braid and cap. _She looks pretty,_ he thought, and mentally slapped himself. Where the hell had that thought come from? "Ah…Ah'm sorry."

Abigail blinked, probably thinking she had heard wrong. "Huh?"

"Ah'm sorry," he repeated. "Ah know ah've been a jerk, and ah know you were just trying to help. Ah just—ah was upset, and ah needed to lash out at **someone.** Ah don't like feeling scared or weak, and when ah do ah fight. Ah know you might never speak to me again, but—" The tears were starting again, and this time he didn't stop them. He himself hadn't realized how much this was hurting him until this moment, and it was a relief to let them all out.

He sobbed out a year's worth of pain, all accumulated in the last week, and Abigail didn't even need to take a moment to think about what to do.

She put her arms around him and let him cry, not caring that her nightie was getting drenched. Instinctively, Wally reached out as well and put his arms around her waist without thinking about what he was doing. For a few minutes the only sound was of him weeping, but eventually he managed to calm down and look her in the eye for the first time in days.

He managed a sheepish smile, but his still-wet eyes were pleading. "Forgive me?" He tried to sound as if he didn't care, but there was a hint of desperation in his voice that Abigail didn't miss.

"Of course I do," she replied tenderly, and Wally beamed for what felt like the first time in years. Suddenly everything seemed too overwhelming, and he finally did what he hadn't been able to do since he broke up with Kuki (though not really, since they were never a couple in the first place)—he fell asleep right on Abigail's bed.

Abigail smiled. It felt like years since she had been able to do that. Moving quietly so she didn't wake him, she lay in bed next to him and fell asleep.


	4. Pancakes

Priestess Aishisu: Well, my fanfiction was **supposed** to be over. It was originally very long, but so angsty I cut out at least twelve chapters. We're talking suicide attempts.  
But I can make an uncensored version if you really want. All right, back to the original message: Well, my fanfiction was **supposed** to be over. Unfortunately, you idiots just had to go and give me twelve reviews for Chapter Three! Some fans, whose names I wont mention incase they didn't want me to, even emailed asking for updates.  
So here's Chapter Four. Are you happy now? (You had better be! ::Gives you a **very **threatening look::)

«§ψ§»

Wally rolled over and smelled peppermint and some herbs he couldn't name. They blended to make a crisp scent quite different from the sweaty and recently bloody smell of his usual bed.

Moaning softly, he opened his eyes and glanced around. This wasn't his bedroom. In his sleep-induced haze, he didn't know whose room it was—and he had been in it quite often.

Looking to the side, he noticed Abigail and almost screamed. Clamping a hand over his mouth just in case, he took a breath and the memories of last night surged back. He smiled and practically jumped out of Abigail's bed, feeling happier than he had in over a month.

No, make that in his entire life.

«§ψ§»

Hoagie practically drifted out of bed, following the delicious scent of pancakes. He wasn't entirely certain what he expected to find, but it certainly wasn't Wally cooking pancakes—especially not Wally _smiling_ as he cooked pancakes. He hadn't smiled for a week!

"Uh…Numbuh Four?"

Wally glanced at him, looking—for a moment—startled. Then he smiled. "Hey, Numbuh Two!" He sounded cheerful, just like his old self. Hoagie wondered if he had gone insane, or just gotten over…whatever it was that had been keeping him mad for a week.

"Are you…cooking?" He asked uncertainly. There were at least a hundred pancakes piled up on plates next to the blonde operative. Clearly, he had been cooking for a while.

"Yup!" Wally replied happily. "Want some?"

"Err…" Hoagie felt as if he had been backed into a wall. On one hand, he didn't want to offend his friend and risk losing a limb. On the other hand, he sincerely doubted Wally's cooking ability.

Deciding he preferred having a bad breakfast to needing a new body part—he could always eat something else later—he slathered a pancake with as much syrup as he could and, very aware of Wally's emerald eyes fixed on him, took a hesitant bite.

His jaw dropped. The fork slipped from his chubby fingers. "Did you like it?" Wally asked. Hoagie replied with a bunch of garbled, choked sounds, and Wally's expression melted into a scowl. "Oh, come on!" he protested. "It couldn't possibly have been **that** bad!…Could it?"

Instead of replying, Hoagie started shoveling pancakes whole into his mouth as fast as he could. Wally's eyes looked like two perfectly round limes, each set on the center of a plate. (A.k.a they were really big) "Well…Ah guess he liked it…"

"Do I smell pancakes?" asked Abigail, coming into the kitchen. Nigel and Kuki came in a few seconds after. Kuki's eyes narrowed when she noticed Wally. He met her glare evenly. Nigel and Abigail groaned. Hoagie just kept eating.

"Um…who cooked this?" asked Abigail, pointing a finger at the mountains of pancakes with a rather tentative mien.

"Mmumuh Fum coke id," replied Hoagie, though his words were garbled into near-incomprehensibility by the pancakes he was rapidly filling his mouth with.

"Huh?" Nigel replied stupidly.

"Ah cooked it," Wally said.

Abigail did a double take and stared at him as if he had just started singing the _Rainbow Monkey_ song (Evil…) _"You,"_ she said in apparent astonishment. _"You_ cooked something. _You." _

Wally scowled. "Yes, me! Why is that so unbelievable?"

"Umm…is there any cereal left?" asked Nigel uneasily, opening the fridge and searching for the milk.

Wally's scowl deepened. "It's nice to know you all have so much faith in me," he informed them with scathing sarcasm. "You can at least **try** it before deciding it sucks."

"Well, maybe they don't want to die," said Kuki with a look of wide-eyed innocence that she rendered useless with a mean little snicker. Wally glared at her and opened his mouth to reply.

"All right, all right, I'll try one!" Abigail cried, if only to keep another argument from blooming. She picked up a fork and tasted a pancake, and Kuki made an exaggerated sound of astonishment and horror.

As with Hoagie, her jaw—and the spoon—dropped. She stared down at the pancake she had just sliced a morsel from as if it had spoken—and said something astounding, like that Wally had gotten an A in something other than Gym and, surprisingly, Science. (He loved Chemistry because he got to work with chemicals that could burn through human skin.)

"Well?" Wally prompted anxiously.

She didn't reply. "It's all right, Numbuh Five," said Kuki soothingly. "You can tell him how bad it was." Wally clenched his teeth and glared at her. Nigel looked as though he wished he were somewhere else. Hoagie ate faster, trying to ignore the entire thing.

"All right," Abigail replied in a remarkably frigid voice. "I will." To Wally, who ripped his glare away from Kuki to hear Abigail's opinion, she said quite frankly, "That was the best pancake Numbuh Five has ever tasted."

Wally's tense face flowered into a grin. Kuki looked as if she had just said Rainbow Monkeys were made of dead puppies—astounded, horrified, and a little angry. Hoagie grinned around the edges of his spoon. Nigel looked skeptical, but tasted some.

His eyes widened, and he took another bite. "This…This is…It's _amazing!_ Who taught you how to cook, Numbuh Four?"

A chagrined Kuki went to the fridge Nigel had vacated, finding the milk immediately. "Are you sure you don't want any?" asked Nigel as she poured in her milk, then her Frosted Flakes, then four tablespoons of sugar.

"No, thank you," she replied, her prim attitude clashing with the Japanese accent that made everything she said sound rather childish. "I think I'll be just fine with eating _edible_ food."

Abigail's fingers tightened around her fork, her shoulders tensing up. Hoagie started eating frantically, wanting to eat everything that he possibly could as quickly as he possibly could—in case Wally decided to do something crazy like punch the table in half. (And he doesn't even know what happened in Chapter One!)

"Nobody even _wanted_ yah ta eat anyway!" snapped Wally, though he looked rather chastised. Nigel also started eating faster—none of them wanted to be around for one of their arguments, though Abigail considered herself obligated to stay in case somebody got hurt: not so much because it was her fault in any way (it wasn't) but because Wally was her friend and she just naturally wanted to help.

Though she personally thought that Nigel ought to feel more obligated than she did—_she _wasn't the one who was dating the long-time crush of one of her best friends.

Hoagie pushed away his empty plate. "May I please be excused?"

"Go," Wally growled through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched, eyes narrowed, breathing harsh. He was clearly trying very hard to keep his temper. Personally, Abigail was grateful that he was at least **trying. **

"Umm…I'm going to go check the Kids Next Door Mail-Drop," said Nigel quickly, sprinting out of the room as fast as he could possibly manage without dropping his pancakes.

Abigail was now the only one left, and she personally would have given anything to be anywhere else at the moment. Wally and Kuki were still glaring at each other, any thought of breakfast forgotten. And, while Kuki's fury was more calm and icy, Wally still seemed on the verge of a(nother­) breakdown.

"Don't," whispered Abigail, unable to keep the desperation from her eyes. The month had been bad enough already—if there was another disaster, she didn't think she could stand it. "It isn't worth it."

Kuki immediately whirled on Abigail, her eyes now blazing, any façade of calm gone for the moment. "What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, and called Abigail something very rude.

"You can't talk to Numbuh Five that way!" Wally shouted, and Abigail almost jumped. Even Kuki cringed at the jade fire that was blazing in his eyes, but she got over it immediately.

"Oh?" she almost sneered, eyes colder than Abigail—or anyone except Wally, for that matter—had ever seen them. "And what, exactly, are you going to do about it?"

**"'Do?!'"** Wally yelled, so loudly the Delightful Children From Down the Lane could probably hear it. "Ah'll rip you limb from cruddy limb, that's what ah'll **'do.'" **

_Some divine intervention would be useful right now,_ Abigail thought grimly. And, at that moment, there was a sort of intervention—if not a particularly divine one.

"Numbuh Four!" came the near-deafening shriek. "Kuki! Get over here, both of you!"

Kuki and Wally stared at one another, though 'stare' is a very mild word. Kuki's eyes could have frozen Africa in summer, Wally's could have melted Pluto—or, rather, burned it to a crisp.

**"_Now!!" _**

**__**

At last, Wally turned away from Kuki with a sneer that Abigail only half-believed. "You're right, Numbuh Five," he said flatly. "It isn't worth it. Or rather **she** isn't."

Then he stormed off in the direction of Nigel's shout. "You didn't seem to think that way a month ago!" Kuki called after him, before walking in that same direction.

Abigail felt her blood turn cold with fury. She **knew** that it was wrong to be angry. She **knew** that Kuki had every right to be mad at Wally. But she couldn't help it.

In that instant, the same all-encompassing—but at the same time sharply pointed—rage came over her that had when she yelled at Nigel, but a few hundred times stronger. And, in that instant, she **hated** Kuki.

**_Hated_** her.

Fighting to tamp down an emotion that she knew would bring nothing but more pain—and the **last **thing she needed was more **pain**—she gulped down the last of her pancake and ran after Wally and Kuki incase they killed each other on the way.

«§ψ§»

Abigail had known Nigel quite a long time, and in that time she had been unfortunate enough to have seen him angry a hundred or so times—maybe more—but **never** so angry as he seemed now.

Breathing as hard as Wally had been a mere minute ago, he pointed to the letter in his hand. "Do you know," he demanded, glaring at them. "What this is?"

"It looks like an official notice from the Kids Next Door," Kuki replied, who was being all safe and sweet and stupid again—with her voice, many things could sound sweet and stupid.

But even Kuki's innocence did little to tamp down the flames of Nigel's fiery fury, a fury that even Abigail couldn't understand—though she would in a moment. "Yes, Numbuh Three, it is an official notice—of **chastisement."**

Numbuhs Two through Four were at loss to what chastisement meant, but they didn't have time to ask even if it had seemed safe (which it didn't), for Nigel wasn't finished yet.

"I know," he told Kuki and Wally, "that you two have been having some difficulties lately. But this has gone too far! We go from having an almost perfect track record—perhaps one or two failures a month—to an average of **four failures in one week."**

"How do you know that's my fault?" snarled Wally.

"Well, it certainly isn't _my_ fault," snapped Kuki, emphasizing this sentiment by stamping her foot in a markedly childish manage. Nigel covered his eyes, shaking his head in frustration.

"I'm not done yet," he growled. He started reading directly from it: "'_Because of this alarming decline in your performance, we have taken away your title as 'best team' and given it to Sector U.'_ **Sector U!** But wait, I'm not finished yet! It gets worse!"

"Ah didn't even _know_ we were the best team," muttered Wally. Hoagie nodded, and Abigail rolled her eyes at their ignorance—she had known for years. Kuki hadn't either, but she wouldn't agree with Wally.

Ignoring this, Nigel continued reading. "'_Furthermore, your only chance to regain this title lies in a thorough inspection. As thus, your team will be temporarily joined by either the closest trusted operative or the Ultimate Second_-_In_-_Command of the entire Kids Next Door_—_incidentally, in your case they are the same.'"_

"So, we need to get a new member for a while," said Wally, not understanding why Abigail looked so utterly horrified. "It can't be that bad!"

"Yes it can!" shrieked Abigail, loud enough to make him jump. She seemed ready to either faint dead away or strangle somebody. Noticing this, he crept away stealthily. He did _not_ want to get strangled, thank you very much! "The Ultimate Second-In-Command is—"

"Me!" cried a familiar, imperious voice from the doorway. They all gasped.


End file.
